Scarred Flames
by Kurasabe
Summary: They've accepted a lot of children in the guild lately, though they've never met one that used to be in an semi-dark Guild, founded by their Master's ex-wife. but the most shocking part, besides his pink hair, had to be the innocent blonde girl he had with him. Let's hope he didn't kidnap her along the way. (slight (ok i lied, quite a bit) OOC Natsu, pairing undecided)
1. Enter! cloaked strangers!

**Year X779**

It was just your average day in Fairy Tail. There were the usual conversations, challenges, brawls and a 13 year old, almost completely naked Gray Fullbuster just got his ass kicked by a stranger wearing a cloak that covers his face, and said stranger is pinning him down and pointing a knife at his neck… wait, that isn't normal at all.

The guild suddenly turned quiet and everyone looked at the two strangers. One is at the moment pinning a struggling Gray on the ground, the hood of his cloak covering his face in shadows, leaving only his mouth and chin visible. The other figure seems a bit smaller and more petite, and looks nervously around, trying to make itself look smaller and unnoticeable in the process. After a few moments, a chair is heard scraping against the floor and the respected (more like feared) Erza Scarlet walks to the newcomers. She may not show it, but she is curious as well as to who these strangers are. But maybe she should help her guild mate first.

"You, let go of Gray right now!" She commands in a tone that leaves no room for any arguments.

"Why should I?" The guild looks surprised at the boy. Did he not know who he was defying?! Erza grew annoyed, not used to people questioning her 'suggestions'.

"Because I told you to. Now let him go before I make you." She says annoyed. First Mirajane screws with her strawberry cake, and now there's someone defying her iron clad rule of order! It's truly not a good day to cross Titania.

"Then, if a stranger tells me to jump off a bridge should I do that as well because 'he told me so'?" The stranger asks, mocking her by using her own words.

"No, you shouldn't listen to people who order you without giving a decent reason."

"Then why should I listen to you? You never gave me a good reason to let the pervert go." The stranger says now with a smirk on his face.

"Hey, I object to the pervert part!" Gray shouted out annoyed.

"E-excuse me, but where are your clothes?" the smaller cloaked person asks politely, her soft voice giving away that she's a girl. Gray looks confused before feeling a breeze.

"I'm only wearing my boxers right now ,huh?" he asked tiredly, like he already knew the answer. He saw the guild nodding as one person.

"Goddammit, not again. Could you please let me go so that I can go and look for my clothes?" Gray asked in a tone that signaled defeat. The stranger stood up and sheathed his knife before offering the Ice mage a hand. Gray pulled himself up with a little help and walked around, trying to find his clothes. Erza looked angry now. Not only was she ignored and ridiculed, but the stranger let go of Gray after he asked it.

"Are you mocking me with your actions?" Erza asks with rage and the promise of pain in her voice. The stranger looks a bit bored at her for a few seconds before answering.

"If I were making fun of you, I would have said something about your tin can cosplay." The stranger says a bit amused. The guild froze in fear for what the boy had unleashed upon them. Something even more fearsome than the most dangerous missions they had undertaken so far. He had pissed off the Titania of Fairy Tail. Well, everyone except for two people. Mirajane Strauss is laughing in the background at what the boy said and Laxus Dreyar is now officially curious as to who is so crazy to insult Erza.

"What did you call my armor?" Erza asks with a furious glare. Nobody insults her or her armor without suffering at her hands… or buying her a lot of strawberry cake, whichever comes first. That is, if they could outrun her long enough to find a bakery. So yeah, the most common response is being sent to the hospital in a bloody heap. Sure, she's only wearing a breast plate and shoulder pads and the leather straps that are holding up the breast plate are an easy target for someone skilled with knives but that's not the point Mavis be damned! It's still armor, even though it's crudely made. The blacksmith who created it should be ashamed of itself.

"That must be the most ineffective armor I've ever seen. I can easily use it to disable your movements." The stranger says amused.

"Care to back up that claim?" Erza asks with her sword drawn, a challenging smirk plastered on her face. This gives her the perfect excuse to maim the fool who insults her and her armor! The girl looks a bit afraid and tugs the sleeve of her companion.

"Are you sure you're up to it? after all-"

"I'm fine, don't worry about it." the boy cuts her gently off. "How about you see if we can get some food here before doing what we came for?" he says in a kind tone. The girl nods hesitantly and walks towards the bar. Everyone looks a bit curious at the sudden display of affection, but Erza isn't interested in it at the moment. She would rather punish the brat that insulted her. She draws her sword and points it at the stranger.

"Come at me if you dare, I'll make you regret saying those words." She says in a venomous tone. The boy just shrugs and pulls out his knife again, holding it in a reversed grip. His stance is relaxed and motions with his free hand for her to come over.

"Ladies first."

Now, most people were silently praying for the poor soul who didn't take her seriously. But there were some who took this opportunity to place some bets, most ( all but one actually) in favor of Erza. The girl rushed towards the offender, sword ready to strike him down. She swung it down, making sure he would be hit with the blunt edge of the sword, so that she could 'discipline' him longer without having to worry about something silly as blood loss. The boy raised his arm and blocked the sword at the last moment with a grunt, with the steel arm guard he hid under his cloak. Using the moment that Erza was distracted, the boy punched her in the face before slicing through the unprotected leather straps that held her armor up and her shirt, letting it slide down and trap her legs, making it a hindrance for the Requip mage. She growled in annoyance before jumping out of the breast plate sending her own punch in the boy's chest, making him stumble backwards. When she retracted her fist, she saw a bit of blood smearing her hand. Confused she took a better look at the boy, and saw a some bandages hidden under his clothes. The boy scoffed before sheathing his knife and taking off his cloak. What they saw was a boy with salmon hair and hollow onyx eyes that looks to be around the age of most children in Fairy Tail, wearing nothing but white pants and sandals. He had two sheathed knifes hanging on his belt and a few throwing knifes were held in straps on the inside of his armguards, made of red steel. But what grabbed most attention were the bandages all over his upper body and right eye. Blood was leaking through some of them and they seemed to be a few days old. The boy scoffed and went into a fighting stance with a grin.

"I'm all-" he couldn't say any more as he had to dodge a shot from a Magic Gun, coming from his travel companion.

"Natsu Dragneel, what did I say about fighting when your wounds aren't healed yet?!" the girl screamed angrily. Natsu paled for a bit and held up his hands.

"Come on Luce, it's just a friendly brawl." He says with a shaky smile while Lucy marches towards him, her anger manifesting itself as an aura around her.

"I don't care, we're going to the infirmary right now to clean those wounds!" she shouted in his face.

"Oh come on, it's not that-"

"I said NOW! Or would you like me to summon Aquarius so she can flush you out again?"

"Aye sir!" Natsu yelled in a squeaky voice. The girl pulled down her hood and looked at Erza. She had shiny blond hair and warm, brown eyes.

"Excuse me, but do you mind if we use your infirmary for a bit?" Lucy asks in a polite and sweet tone while pointing a golden key at Natsu.

"Sure, it's the stairway in the right corner." Erza says automatically, somehow going along with the situation. Lucy nods and grabs Natsu by his neck before dragging him to the infirmary.

"It's always the same with you, you never stop and think about your health. Didn't you listen to the doctor when he said you needed rest to let your eye recover?" Lucy complains to Natsu, who follows her obediently.

"What? I'm letting my eye rest, just like you told me to. And besides, it's just a few scratches." Natsu complains.

"Scratches don't leave scars."

"They do if you rub salt in them."

"Really? I didn't THAT'S BESIDE THE POINT!" Lucy roared while she kicked Natsu inside and closed the door. Everyone looked confused around for a few seconds before Mira decided to break the silence.

"Huh, didn't know about the salt part." She comments before turning her attention to her rival. "But still, a wounded kid managed to pin the stripper down, punch you in the face and use your armor against you. That's got to hurt your pride." She taunts Erza hoping to get a rise out of her. But the insult was ignored for the first time.

"Did you see his eyes?" Erza asked Mira seriously. Mira looked confused before answering.

"No, what of it?" she asked irritated. Why wasn't she getting angry, she got excited from the fight and wanted to brawl, dammit!

"I've seen those eyes in only one other place. That's look of someone who had to cast away everything in order to survive." Erza said with a faraway look. Mira thought back to the day Erza set foot in the guild, covered in bruises and a tattered dress, scanning the guild for threats with a dazed eye. The only emotional reaction she got out of Erza the first six months was when she taunted her and they started fighting. And no, she didn't stop when Erza warmed a bit up to the guild, she enjoyed their fights too much. Not that she'd admit it of course, that would be suicide of her awesome punk/goth personality.

"I see." Was all that Mira muttered before heading to the bar and taking the food the girl, Luce she thinks the girl was called, and headed to the infirmary. Everybody looked surprised when she went upstairs, but Erza had a small hidden smile.

"The fuck are you looking at?" growled Mira with a killer intent, making everyone back away a bit. Satisfied she kicked open the door, only to drop her jaw in surprise.

"Holy shit!" was all she said before closing the door and going inside.

* * *

><p>When Natsu and Lucy entered the infirmary, he sat quietly down on one of the beds, took off his arm guards and put them besides him, making sure he could reach the throwing knifes if necessary. Lucy was rummaging through the drawers and shelves, taking everything she needed to treat his wounds. When she returned she nodded to Natsu, who began happily tearing off the itchy bandages.<p>

"finally I get rid of them, they really annoyed me." he said happily before pointing a finger to the pile of used bandages with a devious grin.

"Don't even think about it Natsu." Lucy said without looking at him, inspecting his wounds. His torso was covered in gashes and slices, some bleeding a bit thanks to his earlier brawl. Lucy sighed before starting to disinfect them. There were a few on his back as well, but they were pretty shallow.

"They're all healing nicely, but I think the big X is going to become a scar. Same with the one on your left shoulder." She says sadly while looking at a nasty wound on the lower right side of his body, carefully stitched with fireproof thread that was usually used for dangerous wounded animals who use fire. Why? Because he tried to burn his stitches and scorch the wound close once. Lucy took a fresh roll of bandages and thought about she could best apply it while looking sadly at the wounds. Natsu noticed this and patted her head.

"Don't worry, they'll heal. Besides, it wasn't your fault that they happened. Hell, you weren't even there when I got those." He says with a comforting smile. Lucy wanted to say something, but got cut off when the door opened. They saw a white haired girl clad in a black tank top that exposed her stomach and tiny black shorts that barely covered her rear, the rest of her legs covered with black stockings that nearly reached the shorts and combat boots, looking a shocked at Natsu.

"Holy shit!" was all she shouted before kicking the door shut and putting a plate with food down on a nearby table.

"Blond girl, you go and start eating already." Mira said while pushing Lucy to the food, ignoring the unimportant things that came out of her mouth like 'i have a name' and such. She took the roll of bandages and put it right beside Natsu for the moment, noticing the fact that his hand was laying pretty close to the knives in his arm guards.

'What the hell has he been through to get like that?' Mira thought a bit worried for some reason. Shrugging off the feeling, she grabbed some kind of salve that Porlyusica made for them sometimes in case someone cut themselves. And in a guild of daredevil drunks that happens more often then they'd like to admit. She turned back and saw that Natsu was holding a knife in his hand, ready to strike if necessary. Mira looked a bit confused at him before looking at his travel companion.

"Does he do that often?" Mira asked her. Lucy turned her head to look and just sighed.

"He's always like that when a stranger tries to be nice and wants to patch him up." Lucy said before looking at Natsu. "Can't you just let yourself get treated here? Elena-san trusts these people so we shouldn't be worrying about whether or not the salve was mixed with a paralyzing toxin." She says in a tired tone, like they've had this conversation before.

"I used to trust her guild as well and look what that got me." Natsu retorted in a bitter tone.

"Who the fuck is Elena?" Mira wondered out loud.

"Elena Dreyar, she's the ex-wife of your current Master."

**And that's the end of the first chapter. not Much has been explained yet (Obviously since this chapter is more of a teaser) but answers will come next chapter! That and i still have to decide on a pairing. I'd love to hear which pairing you want to see, but please give valid reasons, not just 'OMG, pair him with x, cuz they so blong tgeter Lololol.' **

**Anyways, this is Kurasabe signing out. I hope you enjoyed the story**


	2. Glimpse into the past

"Elena Dreyar, she's your Master's ex-wife." Natsu says with a hint of venom in his voice while looking at a shocked Mira. The old geezer used to be married? Yes he has a son and a grandson, but the most common thought was that the son was born out of a one night stand with Porlyusica. Although he seems like a perfect Gramps for a rowdy family, nobody really could picture him being married.

"Who would be able to put up with the old pervert?" Mira asks herself out loud. Natsu let out a soft laugh at those words, making Lucy look at him worried. The laughter sounded sad and broken.

"She put up with him for a lot of reasons." He says softly, his gaze faraway. Mira could finally see what Erza was talking about. His visible eye was hollow and devoid of emotion, the kind of eye(s) only war veterans and people put through the hardest and most gruesome experiences have. She looked at his blonde companion. Her eyes were still bright and her thoughts and emotions could be easily read from them, worry in this case. Looks like the blonde wasn't around during whatever happened.

"Natsu…" Lucy called softly, trying to get his attention. Natsu's eye focused again and he looked at her.

"Sorry about that Luce. Anyways Goth Girl," Natsu asked while focusing his attention on Mira again. "could you please get your Master, I still need to deliver a letter to him from Elena."

"My name is Mirajane Strauss, not Goth Girl." Mira replies in an annoyed tone. It's bad enough that she has to be called that by Fire Crotch, she doesn't need a stranger calling her that as well.

"My apologies, could you please bring your Master up Miss Mirajane?" Natsu asks again politely.

"There won't be a need for that my boy, I'm right here." An old man the size of a toddler says while walking inside, Erza following silently. The tiny guy has a bushy mustache and two tufts of hair on the side of his head, sporting a smile. 'he matches the description.' Natsu thinks while observing the old man. He may look old and fragile, but his eyes betray his power and wisdom. Natsu gets up slowly, minding his cuts, and takes a letter out of his scarf before handing it to Makarov.

"Elena asked me to give this to you." He says before seating himself next to Lucy and pulling a plate towards him. Lucy looks at him for a second before sighing and grabs his scarf.

"We'll bandage you up again before we start eating." She says while effortlessly dragging him to the nearest bed thanks to Natsu playing along, not wanting to get into another argument, or get sent a mile away thanks to the tumultuous water beam of an angry mermaid. Once was enough, thank you very much. When Lucy looked around for the bandages, Mira sighed and pushed the girl back to the food. Her thin frame worried both Erza and Mira enough already without her skipping out on food.

"I'll take care of your boyfriend, you just go and eat." Mira said a bit gruffly. Lucy sighed before seating herself again. "He's not my boyfriend. While he may be cute when he smiles, he's not my type." Lucy replies tiredly, as if she heard the 'boyfriend' comment too much already. Erza looked a bit aloof and curious at her reply.

"Then what is your type?" she asks, hoping to have some sort of friendly conversation with the stranger. Having small talk with people that either view you as uptight or just plain out fear you isn't that easy. Lucy looks at Erza with a mischievous smile, before answering her question in a slightly too loud tone.

"My type are mischievous little kittens who try to listen in. You can come out now." Lucy says with a smile. A girl shyly peeks her head into the doorframe before stepping into view with a smile. She has silver hair that barely reaches her shoulders and bright blue eyes that look kind with a hint of mischief. She wears a red dress that reaches mid-thigh and black knee socks. "I'm sorry for listening in, but it seemed interesting and everyone has their questions." She says in a tone that's anything but regretful. It's most likely the complete opposite. But there's one (not so) little thing that caught Erza's attention.

"Does that mean you're…?" she wants to say the obvious conclusion, but her embarrassment doesn't allow her to ask. Thus, the great and wonderful Mirajane Strauss decided to make it less awkward.

"So, tits or ass?" she asks bluntly while slowly taking care of Natsu and bandaging him.

…

That didn't help at all, but thank you for trying. Maybe it's because she's holding her drool back while letting her fingers skim more than necessary over the Natsu's delicious abs that boys his age shouldn't have.

"That's a stupid question in my opinion. What good is having is having a large bust or a lovely sculptured behind if it's out of proportion with the rest of your body? I prefer a well taken care of body instead of one asset." Lucy replies in return, and somehow making the conversation less awkward.

"Amen to that." Makarov mumbles while tossing a parchment to his pink haired visitor. The boy catches and quickly reads it, his serious gaze faltering and getting a softer look the further he goes down in the letter. When he's finished, he lets out a sigh and closes his visible eye in resignation.

"That damn woman just had to go and handle things that way, didn't she?" he asks in a rhetorical tone while looking at Makarov with a tired gaze. The old man just laughs and nods his head, seemingly lost in old memories. "That she does. I honestly hoped that she'd tone down a bit, but it seems like that didn't happen. May I ask whether you'll do what she asks or not?"

At this point everyone save the two men aren't able to follow the conversation that seems to take place like they aren't there at all. Natsu puts his feet on the floor before walking towards Makarov. He stops in front of him and holds the gaze of the old Guild Master for a while before sighing.

"I have quite a few demands that will have to be followed so that it'll work out and to minimize possible damage ." Natsu breaks the silence with a grin. Makarov shows the same sort of smile before taking him by the shoulder and leading him to the balcony looking over the lower floor. The girls, not wanting to feel left out, follow him as well and see a completely quiet Guild Hall staring back at them.

"You have probably already noticed these two children causing a bit of commotion on their arrival and probably wonder who they are and where they come from. To answer your question, the two of them used to be under the care of my ex-wife, whom the council will probably come asking about in a few days." The people downstairs start murmuring and gossiping among themselves, the hot topic being 'Master used to be married?!'. Hey, it's Fairy Tail, they always get bothered by the council about something and most people have a dark past here. So the fact that nobody knows what the hell Makarov's ex-wife had been doing all this time is easily overlooked.

"Sadly enough is Elena no longer in a position to take care of the two brats, so I decided to take them into the guild since they're practically family of all of us!" Makarov shouts the not so surprising surprise out. While the cheers signal the start of the Welcome party, the old guild master turned his attention to Natsu.

"Well then my boy, what is it that you need, besides what my dear Elena already wrote down in the letter." He asks cheerfully. Natsu looks with a smile at Makarov.

"Give me an office, a rune mage and some privacy and I'll make sure my services are available to the select few you point in my direction."

"Hm, and why would I allow something as shifty as that?" Makarov asks curiously. Natsu lets out a fake sigh before handing him a stack of papers out of his cloak… again. Makarov reads it for a few seconds before his eyes widen and his mouth falls open in shock.

"That is just the tip of the iceberg. I'd have more if I had the things I requested. So, do we have a deal Gramps?"

"… Freed, get over here! I need you to do something for me!"

* * *

><p>While Natsu is no doubt doing something shady together with Makarov and Freed (who had to swear an oath to write the runes exactly as told, without any loopholes. Just for safety measures, it's not like Natsu's paranoid or something.) Lucy sat downstairs, trying to answer as much questions as she could.<p>

"Are you guys from a dark guild or something?"

"Are you really lesbian?"

"Are you and Pinky together?"

Yes it's true, for some reason the fact that Lucy might be lesbian is more important than the fact that they might be raised by a Dark Guild. To be honest, I don't know what expect from them either. But let's return to the story right after Erza made everyone deaf in her everlasting quest for order.

"Uhm, to answer a few from your questions I'm not dating Natsu, I'm not lesbian," some of the men (and a few girls) groaned at that "I'm don't really have a preference for boys or girls." Cue loud and perverted cheers while a few start having nosebleeds.

"As for the Dark Guild part, I can't answer that question." Lucy exclaimed loudly, silencing most of the people who weren't in their own perverted world. Feeling the stares on her Lucy decides to explain. "I'm not from Natsu's former guild. I started travelling with him a few weeks ago." She says with a smile.

"Then how did you guysh meet?" a voice from above asks. Lucy looks up to see a tiny blue cat flying around her head.

"You guys have a cat that can talk and fly?" Lucy asked with a surprised expression. The only response is an "Aye!" from the happy cat. After shaking of her shock, she stares at him with what can only be called 'cuddle eyes'.

"Oh my god, he's so cute!" she says excited while the one year old kitten comes down into her arms, already plotting to use his 'cuteness' to get more fish from the blonde stranger. Some people start laughing, remembering their first reaction to Happy the flying and talking blue cat.

"Sho how did you two meet?" Happy asks again, wanting to know how the clueless little blonde girl that probably knows nothing of the world started travelling with the guy that had the hair color of his favorite fish.

"Let's see, we met each other a little over a year ago…"

_(not so) Epic fun story flashback time!_

_March X778, Heartfilia Estate_

_A lonely Lucy sat on her balcony with a book, the sounds of the festival in the next town could be heard all the way to her bedroom. With a sigh she looked up from her reading material and towards the direction of the pleasant noise. Her dad didn't allow her to go out at all and her mother wasn't healthy enough anymore to go together with her. One of the maids and butlers could take her, but then they'd be fired by Jude Heartfilia. Why couldn't anything interesting happen to her? As she pondered that question she saw a blur of pink landing in her room with a crash. With a baffled look she regarded the pink haired boy that at the moment is trying to get his head out of the thick stone wall._

"_Hgrmmmphhphphph." The boy said, the wall clearly not allowing him to talk properly. With a giggle, Lucy grabs the boy's legs and starts pulling._

"_Don't worry, I'll help you." She says to calm down the boy, even while she's not sure that said boy understands her. But to her surprise, the boys hears her and puts his hands on the wall right next to his head._

"_On three, push as hard as you can. Ready?" she asks, getting an impatient thump against the wall as a response._

"_I'll take that as a yes. 1, 2, 3." With strength the little heiress didn't know she had, she starts pulling the boy's legs. The boy's head gets out of the wall pretty easily, but smacks down on the floor instead. Lucy lets his legs go in surprise and carefully takes a step forward._

"_Uhm, are you alright?" she asks carefully while examining the boy who entered her room by unusual means. His pink hair stands out, together with the black cloak he wears. It's pretty warm right now, why does he need it?_

"_Yeah yeah, I'm fine. Thanks for helping me out." the boy says with a large grin, before looking around confused at her room. The girl sighs and lets him explore for a bit while she starts looking in the direction of the village again. With another sigh (she seems to be doing that a lot today) she closes her window and turns around, only to see the strange boy staring at her._

"_Are you alright?" he asked confused, not really knowing why the girl sighs. The girl looks at him and flashes a sad smile._

"_I'm fine, just wishing that I could go to the fair in the next town." She says honestly. The boy starts thinking, before showing a devious grin. The one that spells trouble and mayhem for all. Lucy backs up a bit carefully._

"_Then lets tell your dad where you're going and head out." he says with a confident look. _

"_It's not going to work, he'll never let me out." Lucy replies tiredly. She would know, she tried over and over again to get out. The boy lets out an laugh and takes her hand. _

"_Trust me, you'll be on the fair within two hours tops." He says while pulling Lucy towards her door, only for it to be opened by an angry man in an expensive suit with a mustache._

"_What is going on here?! Why is there a commoner child in here?!" he shouts angrily. Lucy makes herself smaller and hides behind Natsu, who is still holding her hand and keeps smiling._

"_Oi old man, you know where I can find this girl's dad?" he asks without flinching at his face or voice._

"_I am her father and you are somewhere you're not supposed to be!" he keeps shouting angrily._

"_Riiiiiight." The boy draws out the word like he doesn't really care. "Anyways, I'mma take da gurl heya to da fun place ova' yondah, problem brah?" he asks in the most irritating way possible, because let's face it, Jude Heartfilia is someone that rubs us all in the wrong way._

"_Absolutely not! I will not allow some commoner to take my daughter outside for some boorish things you might consider fun!" Jude shouts at the boy who only shrugs._

"_Alright, time for plan KFC then." He says with a shrug._

"_Plan KFC?" both Lucy and Jude ask confused. The boy just nods before taking off his cloak and draping it around Lucy. He then shows a grin before throwing down a smoke bomb, blinding everyone in the room, and quickly picks Lucy up and throws her over his shoulder. With crazy maniacal laughter he jumps off the balcony (which is on the third floor) and runs towards the wall. Lucy, too stunned to really react sees her mansion growing smaller and smaller before disappearing behind the wall that divides the property of the mansion with the forest behind it. When Natsu puts her down, she turns and sees him talking to two men._

"_Why would we give you money?" a guy with an afro asks with a smile._

"_Because I wanna take uhm… what's your name actually?" he asks the girl he kidnapped._

"_Lucy Heartfilia." She mutters surprised._

"_I'm Natsu. Anyways we need money so that me and Luce can have fun at the fair we passed this morning." Natsu says with a huge grin. The two men look at each other before laughing and handing him a roll of bills._

"_Here ya go, have fun kid!" the guy with the afro says._

"_And don't blow everything on food." The other guy adds with a teasing grin. He's bald and wears an eyepatch, but is a bit taller than the Afro guy._

"_I won't. thanks Johnny and Yusaku." Natsu says with a smile before looking at Luce._

"_Now then, let's get going to the fair!" he says excited. Lucy looks dumbfounded at him._

"_You did all that just to get me to the fair?" Lucy asks surprised. He just nods and holds out his hand._

"_I told ya, I'd get you there in two hours tops. It should only be an hour walk if we hurry." Natsu says before taking Lucy's hand and starts walking. She just follows with a smile and waves at Johnny and Yusaku, who see them off with a smile._

"_Thank you Natsu." She says with a huge beaming smile. Natsu just grins and laughs._

"_No problem, I keep my promises after all. Still, Operation KFC is a success!"_

"_What does Operation KFC stand for?"_

"_Operation Kidnap the girl with Force if necessary and stay with her at the fair until it Closes."_

"_Those are too much words for those three letters!" _

"_I know, I picked KFC because it sounded yummy."_

_Lucy had no answer for that, so she did the only thing her mind could come up with at that time. She started laughing at his logic. Natsu looked at the girl who looked a bit gloomy when he crashed into her room (Thanks for that Yusaku) and started laughing as well. He didn't know what brought the giggle fit, but if she's happy that's good enough for him._

_End of Flashback_

"And that's how Natsu and I met." Lucy ends her tale. Everyone looks at her amazed in silence. Mirajane was the one who broke the silence.

"Is he an idiot?" she asks while trying to process the story. 'At least he's a cute idiot with nice muscles.' She thinks for herself.

"He's not stupid, he just lacks common sense." Lucy answers with a nervous smile.

"Aye." Happy says… well… happily.

'Aye indeed.' The whole guild seems to think.

* * *

><p><strong>I'm back after a half year long Hiatus. I apologize for those waiting but I had to deal with quite a lot lately which didn't give me enough time to write. Anyways, I apologize if the chapter is a bit subpar (it's been a while since I could write) and I hope you enjoyed. This is Kurasabe, signing out<strong>


	3. The hunt begins! follow the drake!

It's been a week since Natsu and Lucy joined Fairy Tail, and a few things went better than expected according to the worst case scenario Makarov came up with (if you lead the most destructive guild in Fiore, it becomes something of a second nature. You know, to estimate the bills and accounts of destroyed property each month). Lucy fitted right in from the start, her open and sunny demeanor winning the heart of many. The strange combination of using Celestial keys and using Gun Magic to support quickly became a topic of conversation with some members, some about the strategic value and others about whether they could talk the girl into wearing a cowgirl outfit to go with her guns. Makarov may call the ones he hear talking about the outfit perverts, but secretly he wants to see it as well, the rotten pervert.

While he looks over his children from the top of his perch he starts thinking about the other child that arrived, Natsu Dragneel. It's been almost four days since he left the office he was given, nonstop trying to re-establish some of the more legal connections Elena's guild had with fences and information brokers. The only one that got to see him was Lucy when she brought him meals and for some reason Happy. Probably because the runes are only effective against humans and never said anything about flying cats. Besides the boy could use some kind of company. Maybe when he's finally done whatever he's doing in that room he can talk to the other members of the guild and get out of his shell.

"Natsu Dragneel, come out of that office! I demand a rematch, excuses be damned!" Makarov and most of the guild looks to the angry Erza Scarlet being held away from the door by the runes Freed wrote for him. Ever since that incident in the infirmary, Erza wanted a rematch to reinstate her dominant position from before. The iron rule she had in this guild was slipping little by little out of her grasp with each act of defiance coming from the new kid. It doesn't help that Laxus and Mira use this as ammo against her, driving her even further up the wall. Lucy just sighs and walks to Erza, a polite smile on her face.

"Come now Erza-san, Natsu is busy at the moment and his wounds probably aren't healed yet. Are you really going to force an injured person to fight?" Lucy asks in a cheerful tone, making Erza remember her hand coated in blood after their first encounter. As she was about to respond, the door swung open, showing Natsu with a carefully guarded look. Without saying anything, he brushes past Erza and looks at Lucy with a little smile.

"You found it at last?" Lucy asks in an excited tone. Natsu just nods and looks at Makarov.

"Oi old man, I'll be gone for a few days so don't wait up for me." Natsu calls out ignoring the silence that suddenly accompanied the guild. Happy lazily flies over to the boy and lands on his shoulder, intent on going along with him. Natsu is pretty fun when it's just the two of them and now he's going on an adventure! Who knows what he'll get to see with his new friend.

"Where we going Natshu?" Happy asks happily. Natsu shows a frown before taking Happy off of his shoulder.

"Somewhere that the Magic Council won't like to pick some stuff up, so it'll be dangerous." Natsu says seriously, hoping that the cat realizes it's better that he won't come along. But sadly enough it has the opposite effect.

"You're going on a treashure hunt?!" happy shouts with glee, imagining the adventure in his little head. He knew that his new friend would do something fun!

"Oi oi, if you're going to do something like that I want in as well." Mira says with a cocky smirk while walking to the mysterious boy. A punk like her sometimes has to break the law _'And spend some alone time with the cute boy, maybe see how long it'll last until he'll worship me and do my every whim.' _ Yes, Mira is still in that stage where boyfriends are those who do whatever she wants. We all had that one phase in our life where we thought that a cute person gushing over you without any personality whatsoever is the best kind of lover (or are still going through it).

Natsu sighs before looking at the punk girl. "Are you some kind of idiot? I'm going to retrieve items and money from a recently captured Grey Guild, making it illegal to possess them and using that for my own gains. Furthermore I'm an ex-member of that guild, which means that if I get captured and you're seen with me this guild could very well be shut down as well." He lectures Mira in an annoyed tone, letting it sink in what exactly could happen if things go wrong. There's a reason Natsu isn't carrying the guild mark yet.

"So IT ISH a treashure hunt!" Happy yells like his dream just came true. See, his friend really is amazing, exploring the land and finding old treasures. Maybe they could go and look for legendary fishes after this! However, the eldest Strauss is not so easily deterred as well.

"Pff, you're talking like the Magic council is after you because you were in some scary guild." She says while trying to hold back her laughter. This kid really is cute, trying to scare her into not coming along.

"I'm going after the Vault of the Howling Wolves." Natsu says in a serious tone, watching the girl's expression going from amused to a combination of nervousness and annoyance.

"You're joking right?" she asks in a shaking tone. The dragon slayer just removes his right gauntlet and shows the ruby bite marks on his forearm, before putting it back on.

"I do not joke about things like this. The only kind of people I'm willing to take are those who know how to be silent, efficient and that understand the value of necessary evils. Sadly I haven't seen anyone here that fit the bill." Natsu says before turning towards the door, dropping Happy in Lisanna's arms.

"Sorry little guy, but this is going to be dangerous. How about we go on an adventure of our own once I get back?" he says in a kind and gentle voice. Happy looks at Natsu with tears in his eyes and a paw stretched out.

"Promise?" the little cat asks his new friend. Natsu shows a huge toothy grin before shaking it.

"Promise. I'll see you in a few days Happy." He says before looking at Lucy, his smile turning into a smirk. "I expect your crappy aim to have improved by the time I return, Luce." He says before turning to the door and walking outside.

"Oh shut up and get yourself arrested Pinky."

"You wish Princess!" Was the last thing they heard before the doors closed behind the mysterious child the guild has taken in. Maybe they should start to reconsider their 'everyone is welcome' policy…

…

Nah, if they did, at least three quarter of the current members wouldn't have been able to find their nakama here.

* * *

><p>Out of the city and on the road leading into the forest, Natsu lets out a happy sigh, his features visibly relaxing. Shifting his backpack into a more comfortable position, he resumes walking while thinking about the moments he took a break and observed the guild. They certainly were a special bunch with all kinds of clashing personalities, yet they were as close as any family could be. Though there were a few who really caught his eye. Shame the bandage isn't allowed to come off of his right eye yet, he really should see a doctor to assess the damage.<p>

First of all the annoying redhead who keeps trying to break the door open, Erza Scarlet. So he's able to fend her off while still injured, big freaking deal! She's acting like he screwed her over in the worst way possible. Or more likely she feels threatened by the new guy who's possibly just as good as her. _'She hasn't seen anything yet. When I'm back to 100 percent I'll fight her. Hopefully she'll shut up then.' _Natsu thought annoyed. The people who he talked to over lacrima might have found it funny to hear the redhead shouting about how he 'should fight her if he's a man' and such but it served only to giving him a headache.

Speaking of headaches, there's the white haired punk/goth (seriously, which one is it?) who obviously is trying to flirt with him and trying to turn him into her follower. The girl, Mira she was called he thinks, is evidently engaged in some kind of rivalry (or it could be called a power struggle) with the redheaded 'knight'. _'Those two are the perfect example of Order versus Chaos.' _Luce's comment rings through his head. Yet she obviously cares for her siblings and takes care of them well. _'Maybe the whole rebel attitude is some kind of stress relief for her.' _Natsu concludes his thoughts about the Gothic Punk girl. _'Is that even a legitimate style?' _the dragon slayer lets out a dry chuckle when he notices himself using all those big words Elena tried to teach him.

Which brings him to the third person that caught his eye. Laxus Dreyar, grandson of Makarov and Elena and someone pretty guarded. From what Natsu could observe, Laxus is always surrounded by three other people, a vain woman, a crazy guy who uses Seith Magic and has the guild mark on his tongue (I really hope they sanitized the stamp after using it on him. Who even wants his tongue tattooed?!) and Freed, the polite guy who wrote the runes for him. He'd have loved to take the Rune mage with him, but he probably follows the rules religiously, or Laxus. It's quite unnerving that no one ever noticed that he was out of the office except for hi- Natsu's thoughts where interrupted when a particular scent caught his nose.

"Shit, should've known they would follow me." He silently cursed before running into the forest, seemingly disappearing into the foliage. Not noticing the totem floating up in the air a bit above him, covered in runes.

Further behind on the path Freed lets out a sigh, dismissing the runes that connected one of his eyes with the sight of one of Bixlow's babies. "He somehow noticed us following him but not the totem and ran into the forest. What shall we do Laxus-sama?" Freed asks the leader of their group walking a few steps ahead of them.

"You guys double time it and head towards the next town on this path. I'll contact you if I end up somewhere else with the new kid." He orders before sniffing the air subtly.

"And what're you gonna do then?" Bixlow asked, somehow able to talk coherently while his tongue is hanging out of his mouth. The grin on Laxus' face turns into something almost feral.

"I'll be hunting the kid down in the woods."

...

Nature had seemingly fallen quiet for the last hour, aware of the two dangerous predators playing cat and mouse with each other. One brave little bunny decided to put its head out of his little bunny hole to see if the danger has passed, only to duck back inside quickly to avoid a stray lightning bolt. Laxus scoffed as he missed both his target and dinner, taking a deep breath to calm down.

"I know you're here kid, just come out and I won't hurt you… much." He said the last word in a near whisper but Natsu still heard it. There was something bothering him, something he seemingly forgot. But what was it? It had to do with Laxus, but the main focus was- Natsu's mind shut down for a second before an evil smirk crossed his face. He silently kept moving in circles around Laxus, throwing his voice so that it seems like he's talking from another position.

"You know Sparky, those are some interesting sorts of magic you use. A normal person would've been thrown off of my trail already. But you're not a tracker, not an animal so that leaves enhanced senses. But how oh how could you have gotten those?"

Laxus is straining his ears to try and hear where he's coming from, keeping his nervousness at bay with anger. It can't be possible that the little shit knows his secret!

"But then I remembered an interesting rumour that devastated Elena a few years ago, considering her son, Ivan Dreyar." Natsu continued, already hearing the telltale crackle of Laxus charging his lightning. With a roar the blonde boy throws a barrage of thunder to the far right of Natsu, missing him by quite a bit. Holding down the urge to gulp, Natsu keeps moving, trying to ignore the path of devastation Laxus' attack left.

"He was apparently a vain and selfish man that sacrificed his own team to get away safely from a dark guild. Those captured were either killed or sold in slavery. Yet he tried to play it off like he was the victim. For that he was exiled from Fairy Tail." Natsu was once again interrupted by a huge torrent of thunder right in front of him.

"SHUT UP! You know nothing!" Laxus roars, his pupils slowly disappearing.

"But the second reason no one in the guild knows is apparently a huge buzz in the underground community. Ivan bought a lacrima filled with Dragon Slaying magic and implanted into his own son, hoping to turn the little boy into a powerhouse." Natsu kept talking, trying his very best to stay calm. But that proved useless when he felt Laxus' magic rising farther and farther up with each roar of anger. Abandoning any sense of stealth, Natsu started running as fast as he could, breathing already labored from the previous exercise. _'I should've stayed quiet and just leave my cloak somewhere as a distraction.' _Natsu thought dryly before turning around as he felt the magic pressure increase even further. A deafening roar filled the sky as Freed, Bixlow and Evergreen could see a dome of thunder destroying part of the forest.

The smell of dinner and a campfire slowly roused the dragon slayer from his slumber. Letting out a yawn he looks at the night sky, admiring the stars for a faint moment. "What the hell happened?" he asks himself softly.

"Glad to see you're awake Sparky." Laxus hears a dry voice besides him. The blonde turns his head to see the little brat he was chasing, clothes completely ruined and covered in burns and bruises. "By the way, you're paying for a new wardrobe. Seriously keep your leader's temper in check, Lightning Magic is really hard to master without his anger issues." Natsu comments to Freed, who is sitting Next to Natsu at the campfire, stirring in a pot.

"Oi oi, it's not his fault you know how to push his buttons. I've never seen anyone getting Laxus pissed enough to blow up a forest." Bixlow says while playing with his 'babies'. Natsu just smirks and shrugs. "What can I say, it's a talent." He responds before the two of them start laughing. While looking at the strange sighting of his team relaxing with Natsu around a campfire, Laxus tries to remember what happened.

* * *

><p><em>As Laxus forces every ounce of his magic outwards into a destructive dome, Natsu is trying to outrun the destructive force. Though it seems pretty useless because the dome keeps gaining on him. While the pink headed boy is running, he's wrecking his mind for a way to gain a burst of speed. "That's it!" he yells excited before taking a deep breath, his belly blowing up like a balloon. He quickly jumps into the sky and turns around, praying that this won't blow up in his face. <em>

"_Fire Dragon's Roar!" Natsu fires his signature attack to the dome, hoping the force behind it would propel him away from the blast radius. But sadly it wasn't meant to be and the dome starts crackling ominously before exploding._

"_FUUUUUUUUUUUUU-"_

* * *

><p>"Still, the two of you must have had quite the grand battle to end up both unconscious and having caused so much damage." Freed comments before tasting the stew he was cooking. With a satisfied nod he takes some bowls and serves dinner. After giving everyone some the group starts eating in silence, no idea how to breach the main subject.<p>

"So why the hell are you guys following me? Orders or voluntarily for some strange reason?"

Or we can forget the social awkwardness and just kick in the door with the subtlety of a rampaging dragon. Great job Natsu.


End file.
